Circo Vicioso

Teve's favourite. And maybe João's.

By João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keel ) From King Midas we used to say everything he touched turn gold. About Spain we could use a small variation: whatever Spain touches becomes ideological. Well, I may assume this is not my definition. I heard it first time last month, voiced out by my good Spanish friend Benjamin. After reflecting a couple of minutes, I agreed. Totally. This is one of the reasons why this kingdom raises so much love-and-hate feelings. Everything there is polarized: just look at the Spanish Civil War. Why am I writing about Spain (being myself a Portuguese living in Estonia)? For several reasons. Among others, because my grandfather Joaquim played a military role in it: very young he decided to join right-wing Franco’s army to defeat The Reds (Republicans). Once again, the polarization that made a young Portuguese teenager join an ideological war; the American author Ernest Hemingway did the same in the other side of the trenches. More importantly, one of the most

By João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keel ) Madrid is just too hot. Almost 40 degrees outside. My mind behaves as a weird kaleidoscope. I miss water and some drops of humidity. I feel über-lazy. Either Pärnu or the Portuguese coast are now just two impossible mirages. That is why I suggest readers not to be ecological this time. Print this text — a bit longer than usual — and take it to the seaside. In order to maximize it, read one bullet per day: Talin (Monday) I land in Yerevan in a beautiful morning. The blue sky is stainless and the two Ararats are completely, perfectly visible. They lay on the other side of the border — in Turkey — and some Armenian friends underline me they can't even touch their holy mountains. The border is closed. It is a painful paradox, no doubt. However, I try to shorten this 60 kilometers with my eyes. I zoom in and focus on the snow-cap, on this beautiful white spot on the Summit of taller Ararat. All my biblical knowledge (mediocre) pops up as my imaginat

For those who hadn't read the ultimate Estonian taboo . Now in The Baltic Times . Bon appétit!

By João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keel ) This text is about tolerance, or the absolute lack of it. There are few things as bad as going out to our favourite place and, in the next table, we bump into a young baby who cries as loud as possible. We are enjoying the brunch, the music is nice, our company just perfect. Yet... that furious baby! He is so annoyed that prevents us from hedonisticly spend a good time. Finally the bill comes (not-that-cheap-anymore-as-you-may-know) and we pay for a terrific headache. Yes, I guess this is slightly unfair. And "unfair" is soft: this is nasty. The same applies to a dog that barks too much or just adores to leak your toes while you are finishing the last sip of cappuccino. "In other words what you are saying is that parents should stay always home, isn't it?", commented Triin who became recently mother of one. I know this is a very cruel image, but from a pure sensorial angle it is an objective aggression. For sure, things get

By João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keel ) No doubt times have changed: Tallinn is now much more isolated than a year ago. Than six months ago. Yes, we can blame on the credit crunch and cross our fingers hoping things will get better soon. But once again two questions must be raised: a) when will this crisis be gone?; b) will the former status quo come ever back? I guess no honest person is prepared to answer none of the questions. Individual lives raise singular problems. In my case things are crystal clear: my job (and self-imposed exile) implies lots of travelling... That is why I often divide my Estonian existence into two different eras: B.K. and A.K. ("Before KLM" and "After KLM"). No, this time it is not because of oil barrel prices. Otherwise: seems that the disruption of the operation to Tallinn by the Dutch national carrier changed dramatically the logic of the local airfares. Besides having two daily connections to Amsterdam — and from there to their comprehe

By João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keel ) That was a strange morning. Spring was stupidly late. Allow me to add the unusual hangover from the wedding party the night before. As if it wasn't enough, in five minutes I received two SMS whose content was nearly coincident... Spooky. That was particularly concerning since they came from two different (foreign) persons who don’t know each other: “Hey! Did you know about the kebab place called ‘Istanbul’? We are a real European capital now!” "We?" Well, more than Tallinn becoming finally a long-waited European capital city, I got immediately excited by the word “kebab”. K-e-b-a-b! I love kebab, as long as the yogurt dressing is excellent and the salad (especially the Anatolian medium-sized tomatoes) is premium. Only this could justify my irrational impulse: to put on my black shoes and pass by Teater väljak in order to try one of this amazing wrapped-and-grilled sandwiches. Took me a couple of minutes to remark on how bad shape I wa

By João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keel ) Distracted by some life bureaucracies and unnecessary concerns, I forgot to signal properly my first thousand days in Estonia. Doubtlessly, it is a beautiful and round number. Considering all the natural ups and downs, it has been quite exciting: when I debarked in Tallinn with a heavy suitcase on 11th June 2006 I had plans to stay for not longer than one year. For some reason, time went by faster than my sweet inertia. Hereby some assorted impressions I have gathered since then. Since an article in Eesti Ekspress every two weeks is not enough to share all reflections, I've decided to select nearly one topic per month I have lived in this homy country: 1) Local girls' favourite name is "Laura"; 2) Cakes are too creamy; 3) Solarium is as important as sauna; 4) Egypt is even more important than solarium; 5) One hears the name Narva usually related to a joke; 6) Locals love to quote a specific passage of Ernest Hemingway in his book

by João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keel ) It is never easy to write about — or to break — a national taboo. I will do my best: I guess Estonia is on verge of a dramatic social convulsion. Statistics don't show us this demographic trend, but seems to me all my female friends and acquaintances are about to leave the country. "Can you explain me why?", I asked Maarja. "Especially because I am fed up of Estonian men", she replied fast. "Besides being arrogant, they drink too much and don't make any effort to seduce us! They know it is still quite easy to get a girl in Estonia... Historically, there are more women than men in Estonia." "They became blind with this neoliberal model from the 1990's and they just think of being successful", added Triin, who also has a foreign boyfriend. "They think money is everything, that they can be fat and nasty as long as they can show off their car or wallet. Plus it is not difficult for them to ge